


Solider, Poet, King

by pennysparrow



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Kinda, No Dialogue, Prose Poem, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21727045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: There will come a soldier.There will come a poet.There will come a ruler.They will tear your city down.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	Solider, Poet, King

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is named after, summary is made of lyrics from, and inspired by/based on the song [Solider, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z8zZBBkIRw)

David got angry. It wasn’t something that he meant, but he had a temper. A temper that was hard to control and even harder to anticipate. His parents cautioned him to corral it. To anticipate and curtail it. His sister encouraged him to direct it. To shape and aim it. His brother wanted to understand it. To know the why and how of it.

David wanted all of those things.

He couldn’t have told you why he felt his fists curl and his brow furrow when he saw certain things other than that they were _wrong_. It was _wrong_ to hurt people. It was _wrong_ to belittle and take advantage of others. It was _wrong_ to commit injustice. He couldn’t tell you what exactly that injustice was, but he knew it when he saw it and he knew it mad him angry.

The day that David finally understood his anger, when he learned to wield it, he managed to stop the world.

_o lei o lai o_

Katherine had a voice. She knew it, her mother knew it, her father knew it; her mother and father despised it. She spoke out of turn. She had opinions and she gave them readily and without prompting. She refused to be meek, to be polite, to be quiet. To be silenced. To be a prop or a puppet or a porcelain doll.

Katherine hated all of those things.

She couldn’t have told you where it came from, this need to write. To put words on paper. To make a name for herself. Her _own_ name. But she knew she could do it. She _had_ to do it. To take that voice and those words and that sharp tongue and give it to others who would not be silenced either. To make their names remembered too.

The day that Katherine finally used her voice, shouted and screamed in others’ names, she managed to stop the world.

_o lei o lai o_

Jack had power. He was the leader of them all. The one the other kids looked to and asked. Permission, advice, help. They all came to him. No crown sat on his head. No orders came from his mouth. Yet, they flocked to him with their questions and their problems. He mitigated peace between his own and beyond. He held an army in his hand and could wage war with a word.

Jack understood none of those things.

He couldn’t tell you why they looked to him. For answers. For guidance and direction. He wanted to just go and be gone and be free. He didn’t try to be in charge. He just wanted a better life. For himself. For all the kids like him. For his kids. For those who put their trust and faith in him in exchange for the kindness he’d freely given.

The day that Jack finally used his power, thought beyond himself to all those he cared about and who cared about him, he managed to stop the world.

_o lei o lai o_


End file.
